Back in 1994 the animation industry voted on the top 50 cartoons. Just in time to kill any lingering post-holiday productive impulses you might have CityRag has managed to find online links to almost all of them. For the most part I can’t argue with the list, although I suspect The Simpson and South Park would figure prominently these days. So sit back, click away, and indulge in the wonderful shows from cartoon stars before they were re-imagined by people who never quite “got” them or converted into mascots for Internet service or television networks.
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Peter Boyle, star of stage, screen, TV, and Transylvanian castle, died last night. Generally when his name come up he gets remembered (and rightfully so) as the tap-dancing Monster from “Young Frankenstein” and Frank Barone from “Everybody Loves Raymond.” But everyone knows the first one and I never watched Raymond (thereby disproving the title), so tonight I’ll be honoring his brilliant, off-center memory by rewatching his honorable gangster in “Johnny Dangerously,” his messianic nutball in “The Dream Team,” and his hilarious prophetic insurance salesman in the best episodes of “The X-Files” ever.
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Things are looking good for one of the last great show DVD holdouts, “WKRP in Cinncinati.” This popular show, one of the very few to never be released on disc, was held up due to the massive amounts of licensing fees that would be required for such a music-heavy show. Some DVD sets in the past have replaced songs that would have cost too much, but the music was an integral part of this show about a radio station and its wacky staff. WKRP fans were forced to wait patiently and dream. But a flyer from FOX suggests that it could be coming as soon as next spring. Some songs will be replaced, but reportedly the show’s creator is OK with the changes. Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap will be riding the radio waves again! And now here’s Les Nessman, with the hog report…
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Updated… See, last year a group called Booster Events held this massive Firefly/Serenity convention in California last year called “Flanvention.” A lot of the cast shows up, there were panels and dinners and photo shoots and whatnot, membership was limited, and it was a lot of fun, a way for fans of the cancelled-too-soon show and because-we-demanded-it movie to talk to their favorite stars. This year’s hotly anticipated event sold out months ago and it’s happening this weekend, right now. Or it would be. The organizers cancelled it. On Thursday. There were some worries this would happen, after Nathan (“Mal”) Fillion idly mentioned on his MySpace page a few weeks ago that he had yet to hear from the organizers about it. There was a brief outcry from fans, things were seemingly cleared up, all was shakily well. Then about two weeks ago the organizers announced the con might not go on due to financial difficulties. To the 500 people who paid hundreds of dollars for tickets (and, in some cases, thousands of dollars for lifetime memberships, since Booster Events does other cons throughout the year for other cult-favorite franchises) this was a huge slap in the face. Outraged fans […]
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Armed C-list celebrities on a reality show. OK, here we’re talking celebrities being sworn in as deputy police officers and going on rounds to thwart crime. I can even accept Erik Estrada, although the others listed (LaToya Jackson, Jack Osbourne, the little skateboarder from the Jackass movies) look to be more accustomed to hearing the Miranda then giving it. But frankly, why should we care? They’ll bicker and screw up and blame each other and bore me to tears. You want to make this interesting to viewers — as well as offering a valuable public service –you need to run with this concept. Forget the cutesy setups and forced interpersonal revelations, just stick a bunch of desperate people on an island with a week’s worth of food, give them all guns, and start filming. Now we’re talking “Survivor”! Wouldn’t you love to see Nick Lachey crawling through the underbrush with a knife in his teeth, stalking Anna Nicole Smith? C’mon, FOX, this is right up your alley…
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Watching “Heroes”? Why not? Last night was the “fall finale,” a cute way of saying there’d be no new shows for a month and a half. But in a nice marketing move designed to help new viewers get into this densely packed series and help keep regular fans obsessively stop-pausing scenes over and over during the holiday break, they’ve put the entire first season online for free viewing. All 11 episodes, uncut, with a quick commercial before each one. And they’re worth seeing. There’s still enough cliches and “Wha…?” moments to make an old comic book reader like me cringe, but this convoluted saga of humans developing special abilities also has some compelling storylines, some great characters, and enough twists and surprises to keep you guessing even after you think you’ve figured it out. Go catch up and be ready when the show starts again in January. We’ll wait. I just want to see Hiro get his sword…
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Last night, while watching John Laroquette delightedly rip into House, I got up during the break to restock my goodies and so I didn’t quite catch the actual commercial, which sounded like a Family Guy clip making fun of O.J. Simpson. That Seth, what won’t he make fun of? Ha ha! Imagine my surprise when I found out the person making fun of the horrific events in O.J.’s life was, in fact, O.J.. I’m guessing country club memberships aren’t cheap because he’s come out with a new book and two-part TV interview called, and this is the actual title, “O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened.” Please note that this is not Tim Meadows doing his O.J. impersonation. It’s not a tasteless fan parody from YouTube. It’s a real, tasteless exhibition by a man declared not guilty of a crime who is now going to explain… what? How he didn’t do it, but here’s exactly how he didn’t do it? Is this the confession we only get after he can’t be punished? Was he overcome with the need to brag? Did he lose a bar bet? The interview, you’ll be shocked, shocked to hear, will be on […]
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Nearly a week after Halloween the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XVII has now come and gone and, just like the Halloween sale aisles at Wal-Mart, it looks like we were stuck with was left over. I laughed, I believe, three times. “I kept down Arby’s, I can keep down you!” “Ahh! The fire is sealing in my juices!” And Krusty’s HD demonstration. Maybe a chuckle for the “War of the Worlds” sound guy, and it was fun seeing the Depression-era Springfieldians. But wow, was this a dull screamfest that’s gone back to the same haunted well too many times. Huge Homer eating people: done that. The Golem segment was just embarassing and I’m not even Jewish. And the War of the Worlds tribute, aside from the fact that it’s always a pleasure to listen to Maurice LaMarche, was weak and fairly pointless unless the goal was to get the thinly veiled anti-war commentary in there. Hint for Simpsons writers: “You said we’d be welcomed as liberators!” was funny. Everything after that was a political ad, and not even a good one. Avoid picking sides and stick with funny. Like, say, “Citizen Kang” from Treehouse of Horror VII when Bill Clinton […]
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The first election irregularities have appeared! Kanye West, furious at being named only the Best Hip Hop Artist at the MTV Europe Music Awards, stormed the stage and launched a rant after not winning Best Video even though his video “Touch the Sky” “cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons.” Best Video instead went to Justice and Simian for “We Are Your Friends.” No word yet on whether Diebold machines were involved. Drivl.com The Seven Stages of Owning an iPod. I’ve never actually owned one myself, but it turns out owning a puppy works exactly the same way. And if you ever appear as a guest on The Colbert Report, Slate.com has a how-to guide to help you avoid looking stupid. Or more stupid than you need to, anyway.
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The following is a paid political announcement from Americans for a Nicer America, a citizen’s interest group formed for the sole purpose of paying for this commercial. “Hello, I’m a candidate for an elected position. I believe in family, tradition, and God, whenever anybody’s watching, and that’s more than you’ll get from my opponent if even half of the stuff I made up about him is true. “I have served the needs of my constituents — keeping in mind that my accountant, car dealer, bookie, and mistress are all registered voters in my district — and I stand proudly on the parts of my record that I’ll let you see. Big changes are necessary to bring this country around to the direction I want to go, and there’s every chance that the people of America might benefit accidentally. “Like with that bill I pushed forward that helped a lot of old people or something. I don’t remember it, frankly, but I’m proud that I inadvertently helped so many people that weren’t on my payroll. Vote for me, and it could happen again!
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